When it’s done well, internal communication can transform your business. With effective systems and processes in place, you’ll find your workforce is more motivated and productive than ever before. However, you need to put some serious time and effort into your internal communication strategy. Because when internal communications are handled poorly within an organisation, they can end up doing more harm than good.
Inadequate internal communication can lead to low morale, reduced profits and poor retention rates. The Work Institute Retention Report suggests that replacing a worker can cost a company 33% of that workers annual salary. Disengaged employees are far more likely to start looking for alternative employment, as well as being less productive and efficient in their role. It is clearly in the company’s interests to address any internal communication issues and resolve them.
In this blog, we take a look at some of the most common internal communication mistakes, how they affect your bottom line and how you can avoid making them in the first place. Follow these simple tips to improve internal communication within your organisation and start reaping the many benefits.
1. Sticking with Antiquated Systems
The Mistake:
Although mobile technology has become an ever more common feature of the workplace, many business leaders fail to realise the full potential of this technology. Instead, they persist with inefficient or antiquated alternatives, such as email or paper documentation. These types of internal communication still have a place within a corporate strategy, of course; but are they the most effective methods in today’s workplace?
The Consequence:
As anyone with experience working in an office will know, emails can quickly become lost amid the relentless tide of correspondence. The latest research from Pure Commercial Finance revealed that the average workers has 651 unread emails in their inbox. Similarly, paperwork is easily misplaced; pushed to the back of a drawer and forgotten at the end of a long working day.
The Solution:
Many older systems fail to meet the needs of today's flexible workplace. They simply aren't able to effectively reach the people you want to reach in a timely way. An internal communications app is far better equipped to communicate information on a large scale. Content can be segmented by subject or demographic and made accessible to remote workers. Such platforms tend to be more informal, which is important for Generation Z; a group that’s grown up with Facebook and Twitter. By providing internal communication channels that resonate with your workforce, you’ll find it much easier to communicate effectively with them.
2. Failing to Establish an Internal Communication Strategy
The Mistake:
One of the more fundamental errors people make is failing to create a comprehensive internal communications plan. And it’s easy to see why. Since the main purpose of internal communications is to keep employees up to date with organisational developments, events, or company values, it might not seem like there’s much more to it than distributing information as and when it becomes available. However, this isn’t the case.
The Consequence:
Without a strategy in place, internal communications can become more of a hindrance than a benefit. Your employee communication should always be regular and methodically pre-planned. When messaging becomes erratic and unpredictable, engagement levels tend to plummet. Employees will quickly feel forgotten if a previously regular communication channel is no longer updated regularly. Notoriously, intranets fail to engage employees when they to fail to populate the site with new information. Take a good look at the content too. Communications without a set purpose are not worth the time taken to type them.
The Solution:
To identify areas where your organisation’s communications infrastructure falls short, you need to review the processes that underpin it. This will give you a clear idea of the challenges you face, and from there you can set the specific goals. For example, increase engagement by 20% over the next three months, or gather a target number of responses to an internal communications survey. These should be shared with employees, both for the sake of transparency and to set a clear trajectory for your team to follow. In addition, your aim should be to deliver a consistent pace of messaging to sustain regular contact with your employees.
3. Overlooking Employee Feedback
The Mistake:
While most businesses appreciate the value of employee feedback, not everyone makes the most of it. In most cases, this is because poorly established lines of communication make it difficult for employees to express an opinion or raise concerns with management. Nevertheless, the result is the same: a lack of understanding of the wants and needs of the front-line worker. Of all the internal communication best practices, knowing how to gather and use employee feedback is one of the most essential to get right.
The Consequence:
You may be surprised at how often employee feedback gets ignored or discounted. Research indicates there is a huge disconnect between what the management team believe and what employees actually think. A Gallup poll showed that only three out of ten employees believe their opinions seem to count at work. Once employees realise they are not being listened to, they stop sharing feedback, leaving managers in the dark. They also tend to disengage with their work, which leads to a downturn in productivity. Internal communication case studies invariably show serious problems arising when feedback is ignored.
The Solution:
Streamlining the channels by which employees interact with senior members of staff paves the way for the sharing of new ideas that help drive the business forward. It also expedites the quickest process of identifying issues within the workplace and proves to individual workers that their contributions matter. First, you must find the methods of internal communication that best suit your organisation. In diverse workforces, it can be risky to assume that everyone wants to communicate in the same way. Internal communication should be a two-way street, after all. An internal communication platform will provide feedback modules that offer a flexible solution to suit all individuals.
4. Overcomplicating
The Mistake:
Sending out confusing and overcomplicated messages is surprisingly common in internal communications. Often, these messages are passed down from the senior management team, who assume a certain level of knowledge that may not be in place. Effective internal communication should be conveyed as neatly and succinctly as possible, with all extraneous content cut in order to place the focus squarely on the salient points. This is particularly relevant when communicating change, as absolute clarity is essential in ensuring everyone is on the same page at this critical time.
The Consequence:
When messages come over as confusing and bewildering, it opens the floodgates for distortion and rumour. If one employee interprets a communication from the CEO in a negative way, this interpretation will undoubtedly spread through the company faster than the actual message. When it comes to communication in a crisis, the consequences for incoherent communication can be extreme. Simplicity will always be the key criteria when pinning down your internal communication definition.
The Solution:
Quite simply, if it’s possible to say something in two words rather than ten, do it. Apart from saving time, improving response rates, and increasing the chances that the information will be absorbed, it reduces the likelihood that something contained therein will be misunderstood. So, while this kind of correspondence might feel rather formal, using clear and concise language — along with bullet points, italics, bolding, and any other visual aids — makes it easier for people to digest. If you’re looking at improving internal communications within your company, clarity should be top of your list.
5. Putting Too Much Stock in the Trickle-down Effect
The Mistake:
Tell the key people and they’ll just pass on the information to everyone who needs to know. Right? Sadly not. It might seem more efficient to simply communicate important company information to a handful of individual line managers and assume they’ll pass the information on to their charges at the most convenient opportunity. However, while this strategy can have its advantages, it often complicates matters. If company information is distributed by word of mouth alone, it'll be impossible to gauge how it's received.
The Consequence:
How can you be sure everyone gets the message? Even if the manager does pass on the information to the majority of their employees, there's every chance they've forgotten that Dave in accounting is off for the week. Perhaps a bigger issue is that, by passing on the information second-hand, they fail to communicate the meaning of the original message. Employees will only receive their interpretation, which may be a slightly inaccurate. In addition, these managers won’t be able to answer the inevitable follow up questions. Individual employees will either have to get in touch with senior management directly or sit on their queries, increasing dissatisfaction and uncertainty.
The Solution:
Only by communicating directly with every single employee can you be sure that your exact, original message has hit its target audience. However, with remote working on the increase, this is easier said than done. Internal communication trends for 2020 show that the workforce is becoming increasingly disconnected, just at a time when you need to engage more than ever. With an internal communication app, it is easy to connect with employees wherever they are; at home, at work or on the move. An app will remove barriers by allowing employees to use their favourite means of communication, and make sure the correct message is delivered directly and instantly.
6. Forgetting to Monitor Results
The Mistake:
One of the most common internal communication mistakes businesses make is failing to measure the impact their messages are having. It is vital to compare how teams and divisions are interacting and track engagement levels. Without these measures in place, you are effectively working blind. Only with regular reporting can you act on the data you're seeing and quickly correct or improve participation. Measuring internal communications is an essential, not a nice-to-have.
The Consequence:
A recent report from Deloitte shows that while 85% of executives felt data was essential in making people decisions, only 42% felt their organisations were ready and equipped to maximise data. Without monitoring, internal communications are in danger of drifting off message and even losing their purpose completely. However, in-depth analysis simply isn’t accessible with more traditional internal communication channels. Emails are sent out company-wide with no definitive way of tracking whether or not they have been received. And while social media is good at encouraging information exchange, without the ability to closely monitor exchanges, it can quickly become a liability.
The Solution:
A good internal communication platform will provide the tools to closely monitor participation. In-built reporting track engagement levels, while real-time dashboards deliver an instant view of who is reading and acting on the messages. You will also be able to monitor the success of your roll-out, by closely checking onboarding rates as the app launches across the organisation. Your aim should be to track, evaluate and act on those essential details. Only by continually evaluating engagement levels can you keep your internal communication strategy relevant and effective.
Topics:
Internal Communications
